my tears ricochet

Chapter 106

Simon walked carelessly with his hands shoved into his pockets. "I thought we were going to be a duo, not a trio."

Daryl said nothing. Rick was walking steadily in his shadow like a ghost made up a barbed wire. It was going to be a slow journey to the Hilltop but they at least had the luxury of cutting the distance by hiking across the farm country. Roads would take them in a wider direction.

A short whistle burst from the man and Daryl's shoulders hitched up slightly at the familiar call. The clearing flooded his mind, the sharp scent of blood in the midnight air. But he kept his feet moving, walking steadily across the long hayfield, refusing to submit to the hurt. "Hell, you were never much for conversation. Negan always liked having a funny man around. Someone to keep the chatter light, you know? What'd you two ever talk about?"

Killing Simon would snap shut a trap that would seal Alexandria's fate. Daryl had to bide his time. A short temper meant a fast reaction. Simon was going to pay for his crimes someday but he couldn't risk dangling any of his family above that pit of teeth.

The horde, he thought. And then Simon.

"What about you, cowboy? What's your little backstory supposed to be?"

"Shut up," Rick sneered apathetically as he drifted along like a shark. Tension was written clear across his face.

He whistled again. The sound of it scraped fingernails down Daryl's spine, made his soul ache with the memory of a chorus responding. "Dwighty boy always goes and makes trouble for himself. I wasn't a fan of him at first, I'll be honest, but you can't beat loyalty," Simon told them conversationally as he stepped over a rotting corpse. "Or maybe you can beat loyalty. Schematics, I guess."

Daryl was going to pack Ivy up and drag her kicking and screaming if he had to away from Alexandria. It wasn't safe anymore. The Kingdom had solid walls and the fighters there were seasoned with long ranged weapons. It had certain benefits. One of the vans in the garage was in the process of being tuned up and if he rushed the process, he could have Maggie, Glenn, Beth, and Ivy squared away and moving in a single day. Rosita as well, if she didn't try and bite his throat out for asking.

He didn't want to abandon Alexandria, the place they had fought and bled for. It was the dream they had shared from the very beginning, a safe haven meant to endure and thrive, a place they didn't have to run from in absolute shambles.

Lori would have loved Alexandria. Hershel would have looked at it like he always knew something like it could exist. But they both would have understood the need to keep running, to keep alive just a little bit longer.

"Damn, Rick. You're stone cold, aren't you? I thought you'd be soft. Fuck, you practically split open yourself when Big Red took it," Simon said, turning around so they could see his honest face. "But then you drag his kid over to Negan? Do you even know what he did—"

He swallowed rage. He surpassed the heat of it until it was only burning at his own bones, only causing him pain to be felt.

"Negan's dead. I'm not wasting my time talking about a dead man," Rick said savagely. "Keep moving your feet."

A few sheep dotted the northern edge of the field. Their wool made their bodies look bloated, wild and wary as they watched the three men move along. Daryl would have to summon up some spare hands to try and coral the sheep for tending. Their coats needed shearing and the animals were in need of a gentle touch, something to ease away the ragged edges of wildness.

Simon was completely unbothered. It seemed false, a plastic facade protecting the real motions. He remembered the man jabbing his finger at a map and shouting until he was red in the face, fighting every single person including Negan. Ivy's spree of revenge had riddled his men thin and it had gotten to him, that unnerving awareness that someone was hunting his own down, someone was holding a gun with a grudge to be settled.